


Such a Beautiful Lie

by ohroes



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-18
Updated: 2013-09-18
Packaged: 2017-12-26 22:12:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/970868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohroes/pseuds/ohroes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The world ends. Merlin loses hope. Arthur thinks he can fix everything with kisses.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Such a Beautiful Lie

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Trope Bingo round 2 prompt: Apocalypse.

**Such a Beautiful Lie**

**~**

The world doesn’t end in flaming fires, burning anyone and anything in it’s path. Nor does it end with snow and ice, smothering the earth until it stops breathing. No one is exactly sure what happens, where it starts or if it ever ends. Something just shifts and then the world ends. 

They persevere though, because that’s what people do. They keep finding ways to postpone imminent death up until the point that it stops being imminent. Even with the world all gone, the earth remains and life continues. And if anyone remembers that life once meant something different than it does now; nobody mentions it.

Merlin sometimes wonders if there ever was a before. If the earth was really once a different place or if it’s just a myth created for those who need hope. For those who are too weak to survive on their own strength.

Arthur is one of those people. Arthur who sought refugee in the forest not too long ago with his sister. Arthur who has become the most well-liked person in the little community that exists underneath the trees, who has become the one people come to with problems, who has become the leader. Arthur who doesn’t understand that teaching other people how to hunt and fight limits his own chances of survival. Arthur who’s been changing the course of everything little by little. 

There are town meetings now which is absolutely ridiculous because they are _not_ a town. They are nothing more than a bunch of survivors who don’t have anywhere else to go and yet Arthur has been able to convince the lot that they are his little kingdom. 

Merlin attends these meetings sometimes, because he’s smart enough to realise that it’s more prudent to know what people are thinking than to distance himself even further from the others. He hangs back at the tree line and watches Arthur take his place in the middle of the meadow as a crowd gathers around him. There is a small part of Merlin that understands why everybody is so willing to hang on Arthur’s every word when he starts talking; standing there with the sun glistering on his golden hair, making promises of an utopia he looks every bit the messiah the whispers make him out to be.

After every meeting, whether or not Merlin attends, Arthur seeks him out. Smiling brightly and confident like he just saved the world by telling fairytales and unobtainable dreams. 

“I should tell you that your mask is slipping,” Arthur says one day as he sits down next to Merlin in front of Merlin’s hut. “I’m pretty sure I saw you smile today.”

“Impossible,” Merlin replies without looking up from the old and battered book he’s reading. 

“You should be careful, people might think you’re actually human,” Arthur continues. He leans a little closer towards Merlin so he gets a better view at the book. “What language is that?”

“Does it matter?” Merlin sighs before closing the book. “You won’t be able to read it anyway.”

They are silent for awhile then, watching the world around them. There’s a tiny songbird fluttering around in a tree close by and Merlin can’t help but wonder why it doesn’t fly away to a better place. The only answer he can come up with is that there isn’t one.

“You could teach me you know,” Arthur says quietly.

“I won’t.”

“Why not?”

“There’s absolutely no point for either of us to waste time on that,” Merlin states as he gets up and walks inside. Arthur follows him, _of course_.

They don’t talk anymore after that. Arthur just grabs Merlin’s wrist and kisses him desperately. He does that a lot. Every time Merlin dares to be realistic Arthur attacks him with his lips. As if enough tongue will solve all the problems that they have.

They kiss for hours. They kiss until Merlin’s lips are sore and his mouth is dry and then he just lays in Arthur’s arms while Arthur keeps pressing kisses on every inch of his face and neck. And for one blissful moment Merlin dares to dream.

Merlin doesn’t believe in hope, but he’s starting to believe in Arthur. 


End file.
